Nepal Earthquake: Japan Rescue Team Dispatched to Katmandu

Japan’s resue team prepare to board their airplane at Narita airport in Japan on Sunday.

European Pressphoto Agency

A team of about 70 rescue experts from Japan was set to arrive in the Nepalese capital on Monday afternoon to provide rescue and assistance following the devastating earthquake which has killed over 3,200 people.

Members of the rescue team include officials from the foreign ministry, the police, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japan Coast Guard. Four sniffing dogs were also dispatched for the mission, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The magnitude 7.8 quake hit the Himalayan nation on Saturday. One Japanese man was killed while climbing Mt. Everest and a woman was injured, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday at a regular news conference.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent a message to his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala extending condolences to those affected by the disaster and conveying Japan’s readiness to provide assistance.

Alpinist Ken Noguchi, who was in the Himalayas when the earthquake hit, wrote on his official blog that the temblor caused extremely strong shaking and reminded him of the 2011 megaquake that hit Japan in 2011. Rocks the size of his head came flying by “and it was like a war zone,” Mr. Noguchi said.

The alpinist, who managed to return from the mountain, said many houses in a nearby village had been destroyed because of the quake.